


Happy Bardvent

by SignatorySea



Category: BomBARDed (Podcast)
Genre: Bardvent Calander, Christmas, Emotinal Angst, Family, Far from home, Fluff, Gift shopping?, Holiday Traditions, Snowball Fight, Winter Solstice, holiday fun, lots of singing, there's the angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-01
Updated: 2019-01-01
Packaged: 2019-09-02 23:49:45
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 32
Words: 12,628
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16797160
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SignatorySea/pseuds/SignatorySea
Summary: I'm dedicating this whole book to the admins on the Bardcast Discord server, without them this event would never happen.This is also dedicated to Kyle, Ali, Goodrich, and Spurrier, without their creativity to keep the Bombarded podcast alive I would have never met the amazing people in the bardcast discord, or even dared to post a creative work online.Thank you all so much for the loving community that has been created. I hope it only grows from here. <3





	1. Day 1: Family

**Author's Note:**

> I'm dedicating this whole book to the admins on the Bardcast Discord server, without them this event would never happen.  
> This is also dedicated to Kyle, Ali, Goodrich, and Spurrier, without their creativity to keep the Bombarded podcast alive I would have never met the amazing people in the bardcast discord, or even dared to post a creative work online.
> 
> Thank you all so much for the loving community that has been created. I hope it only grows from here. <3

The winter season always brings with it darkness and cold. These past few years winter has always been bad for Randy ever since he joined the Nowhere men. But this year was different.

  
__________________________

Randy didn’t want to move. The cold had seeped into his room while he slept, his blanket nest being the only thing keeping the cold air at bay. He wanted to spend the day in bed, there weren't any classes that needed attending to, no life or death missions to go complete, just a peaceful day he could take to himself.  _ Yes a day for me and my own thoughts. ‘A day for us and your own thoughts Randy.’ _ Eddie chuckled gently. ‘ _ You really didn’t think I was going to leave you alone in peace did you? I get too bored when you lay around. Let’s go do something fun.’ _

_ No Eddie. It’s cold, and its dark. I’m staying right here.  _ Randy rolled over, pulling Joby tighter in his arms as if he could force Eddie to quiet down with enough will power.  _ ‘Aww come on Randy. Lighten up. Your band mates are being quiet. Let’s cause a little chaos.’ _

Before the duo could argue anymore Randy was forced to pull his head out from his nest by a soft knock at his door. “Hey Randy. You okay in there? We get it is cold but you should come hang out. Raz’ul made some hot chocolate it's really good.” Yashee’s gentle voice pulled him from the bed dragging the blankets along with him, not yet ready to give up the warmth they were giving him.

He opened up the door and stopped short at the sight before him. Somehow without him hearing Yashee and Raz’ul managed to get a full sized evergreen tree into their common room. “Raz’ul tell me this isn't another plant for your collection.” Randy asked, looking around for more trees to be lurking somewhere. But it was just the one, sitting neatly tucked into the corner by the fireplace, with a few boxes on the ground around it. 

“No Randy, this tree isn't a permanent addition to our dorm room.” Raz’ul answered, handing a steaming cup of lavender hot chocolate piled high with whipped cream to the halfling once he was settled into a chair, his blanket wrapped snugly back around him.

“It’s a Christmas tree Randy! Haven’t you seen a christmas tree before?” Yashee asked.

Randy shrugged, taking a long sip of the drink in his hand. A content sigh escaping his lips as the warm liquid slid down his throat. “I’ve seen them up in people's homes before, but I just figured they were crazy.”  _ ‘Not any crazier than you are Randy.’ _

Raz’ul and Yashee sat on the floor in front of the tree, pulling colorful balls and bells on hooks out of them. “We’ll Yashee, it's not just a christmas tree. It’s also a yule tree. Since you celebrate Christmas but I celebrate the Winter Solstice, remember this was our compromise for decorating for the holidays. What about you Randy? Do you have a winter holiday you celebrate?”

He shook his head, leaning forward in interest as they continued to pull ornaments out of the boxes. “What’s it for? Why celebrate Christmas or the Winter Solstice?”

Yashee and Raz’ul glanced at each other waiting to see who would start explaining first. Raz’ul did. “Christmas and the Winter Solstice are two separate holidays built on very similar beliefs. But the main point of winter holidays is to bring joy to people during these cold and dreary days as the year comes to an end.”

“It’s a time for families to get together and spend some quality time that they otherwise would fill with outdoor activities.” Yashee intervened, standing up to hang a bell on the tree.

Raz’ul tisked at her, “Not yet Yashee, we agreed to wait till everyone was here.” As if they were waiting for signal there was a knock on the door. “I’ll get it.” Raz’ul hopped up and hurried over to the door. Moments later Symbol, Mitch and Tabitha joined Randy on the couch with a chorus of hellos.

“Can I do it now Raz’ul? The whole family is here.” She gave Tabitha a bright smile. 

“Yes Yashee, you are free to start decorating the tree, as long as you let everyone else help as well.” Raz’ul teased before walking over to the counter in their little kitchen area, he came back with hot chocolate mugs for everyone.

The day was spent full of laughter, and stories. All of them curled up around the fireplace, decorating the tree, with warm cups of hot chocolate in hand. Eventually they started to fall asleep, all sprawled out on the furniture in the common room even though they all refused to admit to being tired.

Randy fell asleep curled up beside Yashee, with Raz’ul on the other side of her. For the first time in a while he had a warm feeling in his body, that wasn't just from the hot chocolate or Eddie chilling in his gut preparing a fire spell. 

Family. That’s what the holiday was about. Randy understood this now as he drifted off, true happiness spreading through him for the first time since he was forced away from home.


	2. Day 2: Snowball Fight!!!

The first solid snowfall. It was always a special time for Raz'ul, the world finally got the declaration that winter had arrived. The world fell silent as a soft layer of snow left its dusty finger prints across the surface of the world.

Rising early, before even the sun made its presence beyond the horizon, Raz'ul dressed in the warmest garb he could find and hurried out into the woods. Unworried about where he was headed as his footprints would lead him back home, he stared up at the trees watching as the sun rose turning the hanging icicles on the trees into a kaleidoscope of colors. The soft crunch of the snow under his boots adding to the peace of the world before him.

He was broken from his spellbound walking by a snowball hitting him square in the back of his head. Whirling around he turned to see Randy is the one who had tossed the snowball. "What are you doing out here Randy? I thought you didn't like the snow?"

He gave a half hearted shrugg, readjusting his earmuffs. "Not really, but you looked lost in your head so I figured I would help you out. Make sure you weren't hypnotized or something."

"Well I can't let you get away with attacking a Prince like that." He teased, leaning down to gather up a ball of snow.

"No you dont. You dont get a free shot on me." Randy hurried to make his own snowball, both of then hurrying to take cover behind trees as their banter turned to laughter as more snowballs continued to fly in the early morning sun.

They returned to their dorm room around noon, both shivering and soaking wet from their fight. Yashee sent them both to change before bundling them up tight in warm blankets and settleing down on the couch to read them a christmas story. All three looking to the window as snow started to fall again, dreaming of another day full of snowy fun and hopefully no classes.


	3. Day 3: Holiday Traditions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am projecting my pagan self all over Raz'ul #sorrynotsorry

Holiday Traditions. Yashee never questioned them, dad always made Christmas a happy time. A constant smile on her face as they sang carols and baked cookies, even if Yashee always managed to overcook them because she got distracted playing music with the spoons. This year she felt lonely, as December rolled around, it was her first Christmas without dad around, and she wasn’t sure how the boys would accept her traditions since they all came from such different backgrounds.

She headed into their shared common room, following her nose at a scent she knew all too well, but it was different somehow. The normal sugary scent of cookies, mingled with the freshness of fruit as she stopped short watching Raz’ul dance around their little kitchen humming a familiar tune.

A huge smile dawned her face as she picked up on the tune, and decided to join in.

“God rest ye merry gentlemen

Let nothing you dismay

Remember Christ our Savior

Was born on Christmas Day”

Raz’ul stopped his humming, turning to face Yashee setting down the tray of cookies in his hand. “That's a different version of that song. Never heard that one before.”

“What you mean Raz? That’s the way I have always heard that song.” Yashee made her way over offering assistance to his baking process by grabbing the abandoned bowl of cookie dough and spreading it onto the empty tray.

He shook his head, “The druids always sang it differently. It's a song about the solstice.” He took a second to carry his note before singing to Yashee’s verse, though the words were different.

“Gods rest ye merry pagan folk

Let none of you dismay.

Remember that the Sun returns

Upon this Solstice Day.

The growing dark is ended now

And spring is on its way

Oh tidings of comfort and joy.”

“Your version still sounds just as pretty Yashee.” He offered her a smile, taking the tray she filled and placing it in the oven.

“What kind of cookies are you making?”

“Cranberry cookies. They’re like chocolate chip, but with cranberries instead of chocolate. You actually have really good timing, I was about to ask you if you wanted to help make a batch of whatever cookies you usually make. I offered for Randy to join us but he said he had a few surprises he needed to work out alone.”

“Surprises? That's never a good thing coming from our mischief filled friend. But I’d love to help you bake Raz’ul though I will warn you I’m not good at remembering how long to bake them. I usually burn the cookies.” She admitted sheepishly as she started gathering ingredients.

“That's alright, with both of us here I’m sure we can keep an eye on them.” He started cleaning up some of the mess he had made from his cookies, as the two of them talked about what kind of cookies they planned on making.

Their planning was interrupted by Randy swinging into the room, hanging onto the door knob to block their view of the hallway. “You guys wanted to have a cookie baking party right? Well let's make it a proper party.” He stepped inside, following on his heels was Symbol and Mitch both carrying bowls, and the entirety of the North Stars all bringing in varying sized containers.

The containers and bowls of varying goodies from Splashes signature pudding, to Gareth's family fruit cake were place on the coffee table, as the group gathered around the counter to sing carol’s teaching each other the differences between the songs of their own cultures. At one point cookie baking devolved into a flour fight, they spent to long laughing at each other coated in flour that band rivalries were forgotten and even Gareth softened up to have fun with the group.


	4. Day 4: Far From Home

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is very much rough draft material. I more so word vomited on a document and decided to share. Maybe when the holiday rush is over I'll go back and develop all these ideas further.

Home is such a subjective term, depending on who you ask you are bound to get one of two answers.  _ Home is where you come from. It’s the place you long to return to  _ Or  _ home is a place you make, in the hearts of all the people you help change on your journey. _

You can always find a new house through your life, but your home is always changing and growing to include the knew people you come to love and usually not forgetting. It took Symbol a few decades too many to learn that your home can grow without fully leaving behind the past.

\-----

Most day’s he was easily kept grounded in the present, enjoying the company of his students and his boyfriend. But come the holidays his mind aways drifted to his past, to the family’s he had left behind.

Today was worse than others, he called out of work not having the strength to pull himself out of bed. He pretended to sleep until Mitch got up to tend to the horses, placing a gentle kiss on Symbol’s forehead before heading out.

Once his lover was gone, Symbol pulled a black unmarked box out from under the bed. From the box he spread out a collection of photos, all in varying states of aging and creases from being folded and shoved into pockets, book spines, and a variety of other hiding places over the course of his lives.

Looking over the memories he refused to forget, he hadn’t realized he was crying till the door opened again. Swiftly dropping the photos in the box he dried off his eyes refusing to look up at whoever had just entered his bedroom. There was as soft clink of a bowl being sat on the bedside table, the mattress creaking as a familiar weight took a seat next to him on the bed. He fell easily into Mitch’s arms as he pulled Symbol into a hug, the warm presence a comfort helping to pull him from his spiraling memories. Thoughts of long lost siblings, lovers, and children melting away as he was re-grounded in the presence.

“You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to Splash. I respect you either way, just know I’m here for you, you don’t need to hide your tears from me.” Mitch placed a kiss on the top of Symbol’s head, holding onto him tightly but giving him enough wiggle room to pull away if he wanted to.

He muttered some words into Mitch’s shirt, understanding the confused sound he received he sat back to speak properly. “I feel so lost sometimes. I left my home behind so long ago, I don’t know how i’ll ever go back. IF I can ever go back.”

“Splash, Symbol.” Mitch gently tilted his chin to force him to look up. “Don’t you see you are home? You have made a new home here with Chaos Sauce, and with me. You don’t have to give up your old home, it’s still a part of you. But if you can’t go back be aware that you are far from alone. Because we are your home.”


	5. Day 5: Gift Shopping

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hehehe.... Kinda went off topic by the end. But ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯ hope yall still enjoy none the less.

Raz'ul never understood the need for a fancy gift come the holidays. Everyone always asked him what he wanted, but he had everything he could ever need. A loving family he found on his own, enough food from Alto Brown to keep his belly full, a warm place to sleep when returning from his travels, and beautiful music filling every other wise empty moment of his day. What he did understand, was the joy he saw on others faces when he gave them gifts.

Being raised under the name Daz'ul, Raz'ul understood presentation was of huge importance, if it wasn't presented correctly Daz'ul would never accept a trade offer or a gift. So at a young age Raz'ul learned to decorate his gifts beautifully. His brothers were always a bit jealous of his intricately folded packages holding his simple handmade gifts.

"Raz'ul remind us again why we can't come in?" Randy asked from the other side of Raz'uls bedroom door.

"I already told you Randy, I will come out if you need to talk, but I am doing something that requires secrecy."

"You better not be wrapping gifts or something, Christmas is still four weeks away." Before Raz'ul could respond he could hear Randy get up and shuffle away. With a chuckle he turned his attention back to the stone in his hand.

\--------

Raz'ul spent most of his free time locked away in his room, explaining he was working on his secret project. Randy attempted to find this so called project a few times, but all he managed to uncover was scraps of paper and bits of glitter stuck on the floorboards.

Instead of celebrating one holiday on its specific day Chaos Sause decided to pic a day in between all three of their different holidays and celebrate then. So not to offend anyone else, or ignore each others traditions.

Randy and Yashee were late rising. They managed to finally work Randy out of the early morning routine at the Nowheremen had worked into him. So they weren't suprised when they finally rose and saw Raz'ul sitting on the couch in his cozy pjs with a mug of hot chocolate in hand. What they were suprised about was the intricately designed presents under the tree.

"Wow Raz'ul did you wrap those?" Yashee asked, walking over and plucking a mug of hot chocolate off the table.

"Yup!" He beamed up at her. "Been working on it all month. Gift shopping isn't a strong point of mine. But wrapping them I have down."

"Well at least two of us are good at shopping, so you counter act the bad shopping with nice wrapping." Randy dipped behind the tree and pulled out a bag, from within he pulled 4 boxes. Two wrapped in plain brown paper, and 2 in standard christmas wrapping paper.

"Yashee and I spent so long picking out gifts for you, not that it was to hard to do so without you knowing. Since you've been cooped up in your room."

"Well lets stop talking and open these then." Yashee declared setting her cup back down after taking a long swig.

They all settled down on the couch presents in hand to busy smiling and trying to guess the contents of the packages to open them.


	6. Day 6: Ornaments

"Hey Raz'ul what are you doing?" Randy plopped onto the floor next to the dwarf, looking over the spread of fruit slices sitting on the tray infront of him.

"Making decorations for the tree." He cut a length of string from the spool before running it through an orange slice.

"You do know those are fruits right?" Randy asked, looking at his bandmade in confusion as he picked up an apple slice.

"Drop that Randy, its not for you. Its for the spirits." Raz'ul gently swatted Randy's hand making him drop the apple.

He pulled back his hand, rubbing it gently even though the swat didnt hurt. "Spirits? Its a tree Raz. Why does the tree need fruit?"

With a chuckle, Raz'ul set aside the orange he was working on, having started to place a star on it with cloves. "In my culture Randy, the reason we bring a tree in during the holidays is to help protect the spirits from the cold. How ever when you move them you are also moving them away from their food source. Its a good show of faith to decorate the tree with dried fruits to give the spirits something to eat." Raz'ul picked up an apple slice and handed it to Randy. "You can help if you want. Just promise not to eat all the apples."

Randy smiled, "Show us how then."

Eddie wormed their way out of Randy's belly button. "Yeah Raz buddy. Show us how."

The three of them set about decorating orange and apple slices with verying spices and ribbons. Eddie was having a bit of difficultly with the task do to their spectral hands, but it was nice to see them do something productive instead of destructive.

"We'll wait for Yashee to come home from her shopping trip with Tabs before we put them up on the tree. Or else all the decorations will be on the bottom." Raz'ul gave a gentle chuckle and started to clean up the ribbon scraps.


	7. Day 7: Mistletoe Kiss

Randy thought it would be funny to hang a mistletoe over the door in the entryway to their dorm. He got lots of laughs from Yashee and Tabitha’s shy smooches, and a bit grossed out by Symbol and Mitch’s makeout session, although the weirdest thing was the time Zil dragged Gareth in and they shared a kiss without second thought.

His whole plan of joy backfired one day. He had always been careful to avoid entering the room with anyone, going through lengths to instead climb in the window to avoid being forced to share a smooch.

The mistletoe was the last thing on his mind when she showed up.

“Hello little Randall. Did you miss me?” Rhiannon’s voice called out from the darkness in the hall.

Spinning quickly he tried to pinpoint where her voice was coming from, but he was unable to see through the inky darkness before him.”What do you want?  _ Back to loose more of your fingers? _ ” Randy froze but his body didn’t, Eddie somehow managed to take control during his minor lapse of composer.

Randy fought against the wizard as they tried to summon a ball of flame. Randy managed to subdue the wizard enough to stop the spell and take off running, though he had no control of his mouth as Eddie continued a string of taunts over his shoulder. “ _ Come along little girl, we’re sure our friends want to play!” _

He had no choice but to run to his dorm, only praying that his friends were still out, but he needed a weapon, his instrument, something to give him a fighting chance.

He wasn’t so lucky. He ran into the dorm, feeling Rhiannon’s breath stir his hair but he refused to stop. Instead something else forced him to stop as he ran face first into an invisible wall. Now looking up at the ceiling the only thing visible was the green of the mistletoe and the bright red holly berries.

Rhiannon followed his gaze, laughter bubbling from her throat. “Looks like you owe me a kiss Randy. At least if one of us wants to make it out of here alive.” She leaned down to him, her lips puckered and ready for a smooch.

“Randy? What are you doing?” Raz’ul looked up at his hafling friend, who was standing on an unstable stack of books on a chair in their front hall.

“Just taking down the mistletoe.” He shuddered as his dream resurfaced. “Don’t want you to get caught under here with me.” Forcing out a chuckle he dropped the plant onto Raz’uls head. 


	8. Day 8: Milk and Cookies

"Randy what are you doing? You already had your share of the cookies." Raz'ul asked, walking into the kitchen to catch his friend with his hand in the cookie jar.

"The cookies aren't for me Raz." Randy declared, pulling out a hand full and carefully arranging the shaped cookies on a plate.

"You arent giving then to Zil are you? You know what happened last time you gave him sugar." Raz'ul opened up the fridge pulling out the milk.

"No it's for Santa. It's Christmas Eve. Santa eats the cookies and drinks some milk in exchange for giving us presents." Randy clarified, looking over at Raz'ul. "See your a step ahead of me."

He looked at the jug of milk in his hand. "Actually I'm just thirsty. I was going to make hot chocolate, but." He frowned seeing there was only enough milk for one glass. "But I think Santa will need it more."

Randy smiled, scampering up onto the counter to grab a cup from the cabinet.

Together they carried the milk and cookies over to the decorated tree.

"I'm sure santa will leave you an extra special present Raz'ul. Especially since you made the cookies."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter was a bit lack luster. Hopefully I'll have my umph back tomorrow.


	9. Day 9: Lights

The lights always brought joy to the sons of Daz'ul during this season of dark and cold. They made it tradition to sneak off and go look at the lights even if their father never approved. The triplets usually got along for the most part teasing each other as siblings do, sometimes going a bit to far over that line. But it was the one night of the year that any and all grievances were forgotten, and little Raz'ul is finally old enough to join in.

"Come on Raz'ul wake up." Dink'ul shook his youngest brother awake.

"What I'm sleeping." Raz'ul grumbled, rolling over and pulling up the covers.

There was a huff, "Come on Raz. We will just leave you here out of the fun stuff if you want to stay." Donk'ul teased.

"What is it?" Raz sat up rubbing the sleep from his eyes, looking over his older siblings who were gathered around his bed in winter coats.

"Get up and get dressed. Quietly. We'll explain on the way." Dank'ul patted his head before the three hurried from the room letting Raz'ul get dressed.

He hurried out of bed, tossing his winter clothes on over his pajamas and hurrying after his brothers, not wanting to be left behind on what ever adventure they were about to have.

The boys all pulled on their boots and silently slipped from their parents wing of the castle. Hurrying down the hall, sneaking past the few servants still wandering the halls at this late hour. "Where are we going?" Raz'ul asked, seeing his brothers werent planning on explaining anything.

"You'll see Raz."

"Its better to just see it."

"Words cant describe what you are about to see."

The triples bounced the excitement between them, dragging their little brother along and out the front of the castle into the cavern where all the other dwarves lived and stopped. Letting Raz'ul's gasp sink in.

From their vantage point ontop the castle stairs they could see quite a distance through the cavern across rooftops. Ever single home covered in strings of lights. "Wow." Was the only word he could muster after a few minutes of silence between them.

"It gets better Raz. Lets go." Dink'ul took the youngest brothers hand and walked him down the stairs, their little group heading into town to look over the lights.

They stayed out well past their feet tireing. The triples took turns carrying Raz'ul once he started complaining his feet hurt. Their servants couldn't figure out the next morning why Raz'ul was refusing to rise, or why the triplets all fell asleep in one bed in verying stages of undressing from their winter clothes.

It was a tradition that stayed though, the four of them sneaking out the castle every year to go look at the lights. To forget their jobs as princes or even as brothers and just exist happily with the bright lights twinkling on them. 


	10. Day 10: Loco for Coco

"Symbol? What are you doing up at this hour?" Mitch stiffled a yawn as he climbed out of bed. Pulling the blanket with him he walled over and wrapped it across Symbols shoulders.

The weight of the blanket broke him from his thoughts, "hmm? Oh Mitch. I didn't wake you did I?" He gave his boyfriend a gentle smile, trying to hide the sadness that was on his face moments ago.

"No you didn't. Lets get bsck to bed. Its late, and you need to be well rested to deal with your students tomorrow." Wrapoing his arms around Symbol he tried to pull him back into bed.

"Its no use Mitch. I can't sleep. Not tonight." Symbol easily stood his ground against the light tugs.

"Okay well." Mitch frowned for a second. "Lets get something warm in you then. You're freezing." Not giving Symbol a chance to argue Mitch dragged him off to the kitchen. Leaving him sitting at the counter with the blanket Mitch set about making a hot beverage, one Symbol had made many times himself.

Once the milk was in the pot on the stove Mitch leaned across the counter. "Do you want to talk about what was keeping you up? You don't have to, just know that I'm here to support you."

Symbol reached out taking Mitch's hands in his. "Thank you. But it's nothing to worry about. Just... An over active mind is all."

"Well you do have a great mind, so it being over active isnt to much of a sup-" cutting himself short he spun around to kill the heat on the stove before the milk boiled over, barely catching it in time.

With a gentle chuckle he finished making the coco and slid a cup over to Symbol. "Drink up. Maybe the chocolate will helo sooth your thoughts." Mitch walked around the counter taking a seat next to Symbol.

"Mitch?" He put down his cup, going to speak in reply but was stopped by Symbols lips pecking his own. "Thank you."


	11. Day 11: Snowed In

Snow, its a beautiful thing in moderation. One small snowfall a year, and Randy was happy. Just enough to see it be pretty then let the world go back to the way it was before.

Yashee liked the blanket of snow on the ground, just enough to lay but not enough to impead travel. It just makes the glum winter a bit brighter.

Raz'ul loved the snow storms. The days sitting by the fire cuddled up with a cup of warm cider and watching the snow blow past the windows at speeds to high for it be be safe to go outside.

Nobody agreeded with Raz'ul, especially when they all got snowed in for Christmas.

"Its not that bad guys. We were planning on spending the day indoors any way." Raz'ul stated to his glum friends.

"Yeah, but now Tabitha can't come over. She has to walk outside to get from her side of campus to here. So she wont make it." Yashee slumped in her seat.

"Plus," Randy interjected pearching himself on the arm of a chair next to the fire, "its only going to get colder if this snow keeps up. You guys know I don't like the cold."

Raz'ul shrugged, "The cold is easy enough to fight off with blankets and hot chocolate, and Yashee i know its not the same as seeing her in person but you could always call Tabs on her ireglass. But since we are stuck here we can always just have story time."

Randy bounced across the chair, now kneeling on it and smileing at Yashee over the arm. "Will you read to us Yashee? You always to the voices so well."

She sighed. "I guess I can call Tabitha later. Go get a book Randy."

"Yay!" He jumped up like, well like a kid on christmas morning and hurried over to the bookshelf to pick a book. While Raz'ul went to grab some blankets for a snuggle party.

The three of them bundled on the couch in blankets. Wrapped up in Yashee's arms as she started reading Randy's choosen book. "Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house not a creature was stirring not even a mouse."


	12. Day 12: Up On the Roof Top

Randy gets stuck on a roof, Raz'ul tries to turn into something helpful. Unfortunately he ends up stuck up there too. Where they wait for Yashee to come find them.

"How long have we been stuck up here?" Randy asked, gently scratching cat Raz'ul between the ears. Pulling a purr from his throat against his will.

"We've only been up here for 15 minutes maybe 20. Dont worry Randy, Yashee will come find us." Raz'ul tried to calm his halfling friend, though the purr Randy kept pulling from his throat made it hard to talk. "Will you stop that." He swatted at Randys hand, shaking his head to fluff out his fur again.

"Sorry, your fur is just so soft and warm. My hands are cold." Randy shoved his hands under his arms, trying to warm them up.

"Its not that cold out Randy."

"Says the one covered in fur."

_"I can help with that."_ Eddies laugh curled through Randys head, showing him a mental image if Raz'ul's tail on fire.

"No thankyou Eddie. Please keep such cruel images to yourself."

"What did she do this time?" Raz'ul asked, curling up into Randy's lap to help warm the halfling.

"You really dont want to know." He shifted to ensure Raz'ul wouldn't slide off his lap and off the roof of the inn.

They stayed like that cuddled up on the roof of the Punch Bowl till Yashee finally came looking for them. With a bit if help from Tabitha, they casted featherfall on the boys and got them down.

"What did I tell you two about climbing to places you can't get down from?" She scolded once they were safe.


	13. Day 13: Holiday Party

Razul alone at a party, cause he doesn't like the party scene its a bit over welming during the holidays. So he wanders off to recharge.

Holidays were never homey at home. Raz'ul doesnt remember what it was like to be with his family on Christmas. All he remembers are the over welming partys.

Partys that he would spend all year planning up excuses to not attend, only to realize he never needed them.

His parents never noticed when he slipped away from the crowded throne room where the party was held. The only one who notced was Dink'ul, the oldest of his brothers.

"Hey Raz. You okay?" Dink'ul followed the little dwarf down the hall.

"Yeah fine. I just need to use the bathroom." He kept his head down, not turning to look at his brother.

He caught up, drapping his arm across Raz'uls shoulders. "You look over welmed little bro. Lets go somewhere for you to cool off." Glanceing around to check no one was following Dink'ul steered Raz'ul away from the royal chambers and down a long abandonded hallway. So abandonded even the servents had given up keeping it clean.

"Where are we going?"

"To a secret place. Come on." Dink'ul sprinted ahead, leaving Raz'ul to hurry after him or be left behind. Of course he followed.

Opening a side door Dink'ul beckoned Raz'ul into the dark room, closing the door snuggly behind them and lighting the lantern hanging by the door.

"You have to promise to not tell mom and dad what you see in here." Dink'ul stated, keeping Raz'ul from looking around by placing his hands on the sides of his face.

"I promise. What is it?"

Dink'ul let go of his brother, turning around Raz'ul was left facing a slightly dusty glass case with an axe? A guitar? He wasn't sure what it was but it looked really cool. "Wow. Mom and Dad dont know this is here?"

"They do, but they dont want us to know about it. I found it by accident. I figured you would like it."

From then on any time Raz'ul felt overwhelmed Dink'ul always knew where to find his little brother. Holiday partys seemed a little less horrid to the young dwarf when he knew he could run off to see the cool instrument without worrying about his parents searching for him.


	14. Day 14: Fireside Chats

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oof fell a day behind. Hope this is cute enough to make up for it.

Mitch and Symbol sat cuddled by the fire, needing some alone time after handling the antics of Chaos Sause over the past few days. Thankfully they had headed off to go watch the march of toys. Giving their teacher and his boyfriend some much needed downtime.

"Mitch?"

"Hmm?" A half asleep mutter came from the man curled up against his side.

"Maybe we should head in, you seem to be tired."

"No no. Im fine. The fire is nice and warm. I don't want to go in yet." He snuggled closer against Symbol, proving his point about not wanting to move.

Symbol pulled Mitch into his lap, earning a sigh of happiness from him. "Sure you are. You cant even hold your head up." That earned him a grunt of disagreement, even as Mitches head settled itself on his torso.

"Fire warm. Just a bit longer, at least till it dies naturally." He nuzzles into Symbol, pulling a chuckle from his throat.

"Okay Mitch." Gently placing a kiss on his head, he smiles. "we'll stay till the fire dies."

The two of them stay there snuggled together, until the chill of the air finally kills the fire and worms its way past the layers of blankets they are wrapped up in. However Mitch had long since fallen asleep, not wanting to disturb him. Symbol gently scooped him up bridal style and carried him into the silent halls of Strumlots.

* * *


	15. Day 15: Carols and Perils

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp tried to get this out before midnight. Missed the mark by 12 minutes.

Raz'ul was on his way down to the practice rooms. Wanting to practice some if the Christmas songs Randy and Yashee had taught him over the past week before they went out caroling tonight. But a familiar tune, from an unexpected voice changed his nightly plans.

Raz'ul stopped in his tracks, walking past a cracked door to a training room, he heard someone humming a gentle tune while playing an instrument that sounded like bells. The tune was soothing, bringing back memories of his time out in the woods with his mentor, of nights spent curled by a fire with his brothers.

"The leaping of the cauldron

And the dancing by its lights

The singing of the Solstice carols

To celebrate this night."

He couldn't keep himself from singing along as he pushed open the door to see who was playing. If he wasn't frozen in shock by the instuments owner, he would have turned and ran.

Gareth sat in the middle of the room, his back to the door, as he softly tapped his mallets on the glockenspiel in his lap. His playing stopped as he caught wind of Raz'uls voice.

Not turning to see its owner he resumed playing, though he wasnt humming anymore.

His rainbow pomp looked a bit sad. Laying flat against his head instead of its normally stylized format.

Gently closing the door behind him, Raz'ul swung Usumptin over his shoulder and joining Gareth in playing.

"The moon is riding high,

Tis the winter of the year.

But beside the blazing fire

Is warm comfort and good cheer."

Taking one of the empty chairs, the boys continued to play on, neither turning to look at the other instead enjoying the presence of the music swirling around them.

Hesitantly Gareths voice joined Raz'uls sounding rough as if he had been crying.

"Tonight is cold and dark

But tomorrow we shall see,

The coming of the Sun-King

In light and majesty.

The leaping of the cauldron

And the dancing by its light.

The singing of the Solstice carols

To celebrate this night."

As the last few notes left the air, Raz'ul wouldnt let the silence settle. "Perhaps next year we can watch the Yule log burn together. Blessed be brother."

With a gentle pat on the shoulder, Raz'ul left Gareth alone with his thoughts again. Only this time Gareth didn't feel so alone, he felt closer to home.


	16. Day 16: Ice Skating

Raz'ul never liked the ice, maybe it was the fact he didn't like having his feet on solid ground, or it might have been the bad memory from the time he got lost in the woods resurfacing. He chucked it up to the lack of solid ground, but Reed knew better. He never liked lakes during winter after that horrible day in the forest.

Reed had warned Raz'ul the winter before to always test the lake before he skates. Raz'ul loved skating, he use to drag his brothers down to the frozen lake under the mountain to skate. The ice there was multiple inches thick so he never had to learn how to test it, or that falling in was even a thing to worry about.

Reed over slept that morning, their connection to the hibernating animals making them so much sleepier during these cold months.

_I'll only go out for a short while. I'll be back before they even wake up._ Raz'ul gently snuck from the cave he started to call his new home, hurrying out to the nearby lake to enjoy skating in the early morning sun.

Pausing by the bank he sat in the cold snow, changing out his snowboots for his ice skates. Wobbling a bit as he reajusted his balance on the ice, he eventually straightened himself out and slid across the lake with a laugh.

His joyful cheers didn't last for long. His second lap around he jumped, doing a spin then landing on one foot, continuing his glide. The ice cracked beneath his weight, making him quickly freeze. "Oh no." Raz'ul watched the ice spider web further as he shifted his weight.

"Come on Raz. How are you going to get out of this?" Before he could look for a better escape plan, his body went nub as it made contact with the freezing cold water.

He doesn't know how long he was under the water, next thing he was aware of was a wet body huddled tightly around him. "I told you to check the ice my son. You need to be more careful." Reed nuzzled their wet muzzle into Raz'ul shoulder, holding the dwarf as close to their wolf form as possible to block off the chilly air.

~~

"Hey Raz? You wanna go or not?" Yashee asked again, waving her hand infront of hiz face. Breaking the druid from his trance.

"No no. I'm fine here. Just make sure you guys check the ice okay?"

"Okay. You know where to find us if you need us." She gave him a wave before her and Randy hurried out the dorm room.

Maybe one day he would break out those ice skates stashed away under his bed, but for now he'll enjoy the comforts inside instead.


	17. Day 17: Splash Santa

Mitch loved the winter time, he considered it the most romantic time of the year. Symbol wanted this christmas to live up to his boyfriends ideal.

"Mitch!" He lazily picked up his ireglass from the nearby table, not even looking up from his book.

"Yes Splash?"

Reflexively Symbol responded, "it's Symbol. Wont you come outside for a second. I got myself in a bit of a pickle."

"Okay, give me a second to bundle uo then I'll be out." Sliding a bookmark into the page, he hurried off to change out of his cozy pjs and head out into the snow.

"Splash? Symbol? Where are you?" He stepped further away from the main entrance. "If you wanted to play hide and seek you could have just asked!"

He stopped his hollering as he heard bells coming from around the side of the building. Turning to look, Symbol sat atop a bright red sleigh being pulled by two horses with fake antlers strapped to their heads. Mitch started laughing noticing his boyfriends Santa outfit.

"What?" The smile faided from the bards face. "Do you not like it? I thought you would like a good sleigh ride with Santa. Hohoho."

"Its not," Mitch fought to quell his laughter, "its not that Symbol-"

"Santa."

"Santa. Its just I was expecting to see my boyfriend, not you." Mitch climbed up into the sleigh beside Symbol. Snuggling up into his boyfriends side with a smile. "Ride on then Santa."

With a jolly wish of Merry Christmas to the empty surroundings Symbol started off the sleigh. The two of them enjoying a few laps around the school grounds before Chaos actually appeared.

"What the hell?" Symbol raise a hand to the back of his head, his exposed hair was now soaking wet.

"Nice one Randy, you Splashed Santa!" Raz'ul called out, the entirety of the band breaking into a fit of laughter.


	18. Day 18: Naughty and/or Nice

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bad. Bad chapter. Tried to avoid being cliche, and ended up with bad writing. Suffer this blandness with me.

Raz'ul never understood why people had such a hard time staying on the nice list. Not until Randy decided to help him with his winter treat hanging.

"So you just need to roll the pinecone in peanut butter, then roll it in the bowl of bird see- Randy. Thats for the birds, get it out your mouth." Raz'ul stopped rolling his pinecone in the peanut butter and pulled the bowl out of Randy's hands. "If youre just going to eat everything, please go get something from AltoBrown. The animals wont be happy if you eat all their food."

Randy muttered an apology and shuffled off. Leaving Raz'ul to prep the bird treats alone.

Doning his coat, he picked up the bundles of pinecones by the ribbons he had attached to them and headed outside, offering to Randy for him to come along and help.

"We just need to hang these from the trees around the woods. Its so the winter birds have something to eat, and its a nice offering to the winter spirits. Here." He handed Randy about half the pinecones. "Take these and start on that side of the clearing. Ill go around the other way and we'll meet in the middle." 

"Okay Raz!" He smiled, happy to be helping his druid friend. He set off to hang up the pinecones.

Raz'ul hummed a soft carol to himself as he worked. Taking his time to circle his half of the clearing, making sure to space out the pinecones between the trees.

Hanging up his last one he set off to find Randy. Disappointment dawning his face as he saw Randy climbing out of a tree with a peanut butter covered pinecone hanging from his mouth. "Well. I guess one out of 12 isnt to bad. Maybe next year he wont be so naughty and let the spirits have their trears."


	19. Day 19: Stockings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I dont think this is even worth its own chapter but ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯ have some cute sweaterspoons

"Hey Tabs? What are you wearing?" Yashee gestured down to her girlfriends star clad legs as they headed to the cafeteria. Deciding to get a cup of hot chocolate before they went out to do some last minute present shopping.

"Uh, a skirt? You have definitely seen me in this skirt before Yashee." She picked up the edge of her galaxy printed skirt, tugging it to straighten out the pattern a bit.

"No no, under it. It looks like youve put the night sky on your legs." She stops now, crouching in front of Tabitha to get a better look at the glittering on Tabs' legs.

"Oh these?" She pulls up the skirt just a tad to show off more of the consilation pattern. "They are my star stockings. Do you like them? My dad got them for me."

"I think they make your legs look out of this world."


	20. Day 20: Snowglobe

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry Alice, we kinda had similar ideas.

Raz'ul flipped the globe upsidedown, turning the little key sticking out the bottom before putting it on the table in the silent studyhall. He wasn't worried about making noise since everyone else was at the Christmas party today, but he didn't feel like going. It felt wrong to go to a party not ment for his holiday.

He dropped his head onto his arms, making himself eye level with the globe watching the still figure deer stare up in wonder at the slowly falling glitter snow. As a pretty tune rang out a bit louder then Raz'ul had expected, it was probably amplified by the empty room but it's not like anyone was around to hear him sing anyway.

"Good morrow, happy paganfolk,

On this great day of Yule.

And may ye brightly celebrate

And sing and dance and fool.

And deeply drain the wine of life

From Heaven's glistening pool.

O partake of the ecstasy and joy,

Laughter and joy,

O partake of the ecstasy and joy."

He barely lifted his head as a familiar pomped head joined him across the table, the two of them sitting silently for a moment before the music picked back up signaling the next verse.

"The good and gracious Lady,

Her only law is love,

To cherish every living thing

Below us and above,

She reigneth as She did of old

The Queen of Heaven above.

O partake of the ecstasy and joy

Laughter and joy,

O partake of the ecstasy and joy.

The great and mighty Horned One

Whose trident some do see,

Destroys and builds the world anew

From Birth and Death and Thee!

He leads us through illusion

To the everliving tree."

Raz'ul picked up his head wiping away the tears that made their way down his face against his oen accord. He felt a weight on his free hand, looking up Gareth offered him a gentle smile his own eyes a bit misty.

"Now may the GODS and GODDESSES

Bestow on us the grace,

To ever walk in balance with

The Spirits of the place.

And lead us all to Paradise

To greet them face to face.

O partake of the ecstasy and joy,

Laughter and joy,

O partake of the ecstasy and joy."

As the music box winded to an end, the last of the snowflakes resettling themselves under the tree above the deer, they stood from the table heading around its circumference towards eachother.

They met in the middle in an awkward hug, Gareth now quite sure how to hug someone so short, so he dropped to his knees to hold the dwarf. The two of them sat/stood there for a moment, holding onto eachother for comfort and support.

"Hey now Raz'ul don't be so sad. You might be far from home but so are the rest of us. The holidays wont be so bad." Gareth hesistently broke the silence, rubbing gentle circles in the dwarfs back.

"You don't understand Gar. I will never be happy during the holidays, Ive never gone home to see the yule log burn, and I probably never will." His words were muffled by Gareths sweater, but the point still got across.

"Well you dont need to go home to watch it. The point of the solstice is its a time to spend with family and friends. You have your band don't you? Im sure they wouldn't mind partaking in your traditions."

"Look Gareth." Raz'ul wiggles his way out of his arms, drying the tears from his face even though his face didnt stay dry for more then a few seconds. "The holidays suck, they have always stucked. I was ignored at home, I-I abandonded them on Solstice, I ran off and haven't gone back. I doubt they even notice I'm gone. Holidays have always stucked, i appreciate you trying to help. But no simple song and a stupid snowglobe can chase away the ill feeling in my soul." Raz'ul turns and flees from the library, trying to hold back his onslot of tears till he made it to his room.

Gareth stood, gently plucking the snowglobe from the table. Flipping it around in his hands he found a sticker on the bottom of it, it was pealed around the edges. Easily coming off with a gentle tug. Underneath was a small engraving.

_To my little Raz'ul. May your solstice always be warm by the yule log fire, and may you always find your way back home._

_Love, Mom_ _._


	21. Day 21: Don We Now Our Gay Apparel

"Yashee? Do I really have to wear this to the christmas party?" Randy scratched his arms in the uneven wooly sweater Yashee had made him, she had been taking knitting lessons and poor randy has been used like a little doll since his small stature made him easy to make clothes for.

"You wouldn't want to hurt Tabithas feelings would you?" She leaned down, readjusting his sweater for him.

"No. But you made this not her."

"Yes but you promised to wear it. You only need to wear it to the party, once everyone arrives and the party actually starts you can take it off. But keep it on for a little while, for me please?"

"Fine. I hate that you have suckered me into this though." He crossed his arms with a playful pout. The sweater honestly wasnt to bad, a bit more colorful then he liked, but he just liked giving Yashee a hard time.


	22. Day 22: Christmas Pickle

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know the prompt was technically hiding the pickle, but ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯

"Randy! Stop digging through the tree, you, might knock it over again." Raz'ul scolded him, grabbing the halfling by the scarf around his neck and gently pulling hin away. The way one would move a bad kitten by the scruff of their neck.

"But Raz'ul I have to find the pickle."

Raz'ul freezes. "You put a pickle in the tree?"

"No! Santa did!" Randy gasped. "You've never heard of the Christmas Pickel?"

"No Randy. I'm Pagan, I don't follow Christmas traditions." He let go of Randy's scarf.

Randy readjusts the scarf and clears his throat reciting perfectly like his mother use to. 

"To start a tradition that will surely last,

Here's the story about the pickle of glass.

The night before Christmas, it's hung on the tree

While everyone's sleeping, it's done secretly.

And on Christmas morning, when you arise,

The first one to find it will get a surprise!

A family tradition for all to share,

You'll look for the pickle year after year."

He cracks a smile. "Don't you see, i gotta find the pickle to win the suprise, its always hidden in the tree, so I gotta find it."

"Oh you looking for this little buddy?" Yashee walks over and plucks a green glass ordiment off the tree, handing it down to him.

"No fair. Now Yashee gets the extra present."


	23. Day 23: Teddy Bear

Last year Randy gave Joby the best Christmas pressent ever, his little bear Joby. This year Joby made mom help him find the best gift for his big brother.

"Not that one mom."

"Why not? Its a perfectly good bear." She lowerd the bear from the shelf to show it to him.

Shaking his head he pointed out the slightly crookedly stitched ear. "No, seeeeeeee. Its gotta be the perfectest bear in the whole world! Randy got me the best bear. So he needs the best one."

His mother sighed, taking the bear back and putting it on the self. "Okay, lets keep looking then."

-

They spent hours searching between the few stores in their small town that sold children's toys, before Joby was happy that he found the perfect bear for his brother. Having mom help him wrap it they put it under the tree, so it would be the first thing Randy got to open.

-

"RandyRandyRandy! WakeupWakeupWakeup!" Randy grunted as his little brother launched himself across the room onto his bed. "Its Christmas! You gotta wake up! Santa was here!" He bounces on the bed, trying to wake up Randy who was pretending to sleep. "Come on Randy, I know you aren't sleeping."

Randy chuckled, "yeah Jobes. Its a bit hard to sleep with you jumping on me. Come on. Lets go wake mom and dad." Climbing out of bed Randy tossed on a shirt.

"Mom and dad are already up, I heard them outside talking. They are waiting for us."

"Okay, lets go out and say goodmorning then." Randy reajusted his shirt, putting on his belt before letting Joby grab his hand. Bear Joby grasped in his free hand as he dragged his brother outside past the decorated tree.

"Merry Christmas!" Joby yelled as they opend the front door to talk to their parents, only the people on the other side of the door were much to tall to be mom and dad.

Randy went wided eyed, "sorry, we thought you were someone else." He quickly pulled Joby behind him, closing the door.

A foot slipping in the doorway stopped it from being latched. "Now now little ones, thats no way to greet your family on Christmas." The womans voice dripped with honey, her face hidden behind a white mask as she leaned down into view.

"You arent our family. Leave us alone." Randy backed away, keeping Joby behind him. His eyes darted around looking for anything he could grab to scare off the strangers with.

"Yeah you're big and scarry you arent out family." Joby peaked out behind Randy, holding tightly to Bear Joby.

Randy looked around warily as the tall woman started making her way in. "Jobes. Go to mom." Randy pushes him down the hall before lunging for the mantle where dad kept his decorative daggers hung up.

"Randy!"

Whirling around daggers in hand, Randy gasped seeing Joby caught in the womans arms. "Let him go!" _How was she so fast?_

"Now now, why would I do that, he just needs a little hug." Even with the mask, Randy could hear the grin in her voice.

"What do you want?" He asked slowly, still gripping tight to the daggers.

"We just want out family together again. Dont you want to be part of the family Randall?"

"Let Joby go. Ill come quietly, just leave him out of this."

"You're soft kid. We'll work that out of you soon enough." She lets go of Joby who sprints over to Randy hugging him tight around the waist.

"You can't go Randy."

"Im sorry Jobes I have to. Promise me you'll protect mom and dad?" Randy pried his brother off, so he could kneel down and hand him one of the daggers, dad had let them hold em on occasion, so he wasnt worried about Joby getting hurt.

"Only." He sniffs, tears heavy on his face, "only if you take care of Joby." He holds the bear out to his big brother.

"Joby is yours."

Joby shakes his head, "he'll help protect you."

"Okay." Taking the bear Randy follows the strange masked woman from the house, "i love you Joby. Tell mom and dad i love them too." He looked like he had more to say, but the woman got tired of the sobfest and grabbed Randy by the arm dragging him from the house.

Tears streaming down his face he grabs the bear from under the tree and flees to his parents room, sobbing into their sheets unaware as to why they didn't stir from his tears.


	24. Day 24: March of Toys

"Come on Gareth, wake up. We want to go see the march but Ms. Blackblade won't let us go unless we all go togther." Tabitha pounded on Gareths door, trying to wake him up.

Gareth barely looked away from rhe mirror on his vanity table, needing focus to properly style his hair. "Tabitha, I already told you I dont want to go to that event. Chaos Sause made a mockery of us last time we were in public together, I will not let them disgrace our name again."

"Come on Gare. Don't be like that. We can avoid them all day if it makes you feel better. But Ilda and I really want to go."

It was the same excuse he had heard over the past hour, the two of them playing this game through his bedroom door as he styled his hair. Getting his rainbow hair to sit in line was a daunting task, which he finally finished. "Okay fine. Give me twenty minutes to get ready."

"Thank you. Ilda and I will be out here waiting. Twenty minutes, thats all you got before I come banging on the door to make sure you didn't fall back asleep."

\---

Tabitha smiled brightly at Yashee from where she was in the crowd. Watching her secret crush play with her band as they introduced the toys into town. Gareth wasnt happy, his normally star shapped hair had been tossled by children trying to toss ordiments into his hair. Thinking it was a tree topper that needed more decor.

Once the kids scattered to go find their toys, Chaos Sause made their way off the stage. Tabitha found an excuse to slip away from her bandmates and go talk to Yashee.

Raz'ul seemed to dissapear from view the second he meet the crowd, Randy still visable up on Yashee's shoulders.

Ilda wandered off to go find some cider to warm her freezing hands, leaving Gareth to wander the streets alone. He definitely wasn't going to stay in the town square and risk having more kids try to treat him like a tree.

He froze finding his dwarf associate in an alleyway. Before he could back away Raz'ul spoke. "Crowd to much for you as well? The March of Toys is nice, but it seems like it's to much about presents and not about the people. Ya know?" Raz'ul sat down on a barrel, gesturing for Gareth to take a seat.

When Gareth made no move to sit Raz'ul sighed. "Look man its a holiday, I'm not gonna try nothing funny. My mother didn't raise a man with no manners. Just sit, we don't gotta talk just the company is nice."

With a sigh Gareth joined Raz'ul in sitting on the barrels. "My mommas didn't raise no ill mannered man either. Sorry to hear you dont like the holiday, but I understand. The kids seem to enjoy it though so why take it from them?"

"Maybe because it seems wrong in a way. Last year we had to fight the toys to save the kids. A mans greed took over and he fought the town for it. You would think they would have learned that the shiny things arent needed for a holiday to be happy." Raz'ul shook his head slightly.

"You cant change a village in a day." Gareth gave Raz'ul a pat on the shoulder. "One day they might change, but they might not. You can't control others. So just enjoy rhe happiness your holiday gives you instead. We might be on opposite ends of a class war, but you do understand my practices more then most."

He offered a soft smile, the most genuine thing Raz'ul had ever seen on that smug face. "Blessed be Raz'ul. Try to enjoy the march of toys, just like we silently enjoyed the solstice."

He stood leaving the dwarf alone in the ally, not wantjng to linger in fear of his bandmates seeing him with his so called enemys.


	25. Day 25: Green Christmas

"Well this is sad." Yashee sighed looking out the window.

"What is?" Randy hopped up from his place on the sofa trying to see what she was looking at.

"Its Christmas, and theres no snow. What kind of Christmas is it if not a white one?" She turns tossing her hands in the air.

Randy shuffles over, patting her lower back, "its not that bad Yashee. Instead of a white christmas we have a green-er brown one." Hopping up on a stool he gestured out the window to the dead grass. "It might not be snow, but at least theres still a ground to stand on and plenty of trees."

"Yeah, i guess you're right. Thanks Randy. Come on, since we cant pelt anyone with snowballs lets go make some water balloons."

"Hell yeah!" He fist pumps rushing out the door with Yashee to go have some fun.


	26. Day 26: Wreath

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You will have to rip these Pagan boys from my dying hands

"Hey Raz'ul. What are you doing?" Gareth had wandered out of his dorm late into the night everyone else in the school had retired to their rooms, but here was Raz'ul sitting at a table in the library with all kinds of plants scattered about.

"Im making a wreath," he held up the circle of woven vines that was partially decorated with flowers. "Do you wish to join me? I know theres enough vines around here for another one." He started digging through the pile of winter flowers and pinecones before him, producing a length of vines.

Looking around to ensure they were alone Gareth took the offered vine and took a seat. "Don't judge if mine isnt that good. My moms usually help me."

"Thats okay, I'm willing to help you if you need it." A smile, before he turns back to his work.

They work silently for a while, Raz'ul occasionally leaning over and helping readjust a piece of Gareths base so it would properly hold the flowers.

"Hey Raz?"

A soft hum of question answers him from the dwarf, who is trying to slide a particually difficult flower into his wreath. His tongue is sticking out the corner of his mouth as he works.

"Why are you doing this here? Aren't your bandmates your family, shouldn't you be doing this with them?" He stops working to observe Raz'uls reaction.

"I couldn't do it with them. I tried to a week ago, but Randy kept eating all the holly berries and Yashee kept taking the pinecones to make birdfeeders with Tabitha. So I have to keep my craft stuff hidden or else it dissapears." He gets the flower in, reaching out for a pinecone. "They mean well, but sometimes they don't think about how the little things they do hurt others."

"Well I'm glad you managed to salvage enough of your stuff to make your wreath. I'm sure it will look amazing." Gareth started grabbing flowers, sloppily weaving them into the vines.

Raz'ul looks up giving him a smile. "Yours will look wonderful as well I'm certain. Thank you for joining me. It felt strange doing this alone."

Falling back into a comfortable silence they worked on their wreaths some more.

Raz'ul finished his, pushing it aside to grab a length of vine and starting a new one.

As the two of them relaxed further they found themselves lazily bouncing pagan carols between them. Sometime to lightly fill the silence and share more smiles and memories of holidays before Strumlotts.

Gareth held up his patchily decorated wreath, "Well I tried." He tilted his head trying to make it look better.

"I think it's lovely." Raz'ul stood up on his chair, leaning over to Gareth and putting the second wreath he made on his head. "Merry Solstice Gareth."

Stunned for a moment Gareth froze, gripping onto the wreath in his hands a bit tighter.

"You okay?" Raz'ul sat back down, watching his companion carefully.

"No-noone besides my mom's have every wreathed me before. Sorry. It was just shocking." Shifting to face Raz'ul, Gareth leaned over and haphazardly put his wreath on Raz'uls head. "Merry Solstice Raz'ul. May the growing light chase away the darkness in your life."

Raz'ul smiled, reajusting the wreath slightly so it wouldn't fall over his eyes. "You dont have to wear it tomorrow if you don't want to. I know it's tradition to do so, but I'm also not family so us making wreaths together does kindof break tradition anyway."

"Raz'ul, I'm going to wear it. We need to represent our believes, if we dont do it no one else will."

Sharing a brighter smile, they start to clean up the remaining mess on the table.

Once everything is cleaned up they both head off to their respective rooms for the night.

They get strange looks in the dinning hall the next day. Gareth styled his pom like normal, Raz'ul made the wreath thinner in the front to accomidate for Gareths hair style.

Raz'ul had braided his hair and beard with flowers matching the wreath upon his head. Earning himself more then a few stares since he looked like a walking christmas decoration.

But the knowing smiles he shared with Gareth across the room were worth the strange looks.


	27. Day 27: White Elephant

"What do you mean you didn't want an Elephant?" Raz'ul asked standing outside the barn as a White Elephant. "I spent so long trying to transform correctly." His trunk drooped sadly.

"Yeah, I ran all over tiwn trying to find the best one." Randy held out a little porcelain elephant in his palms.

"I do appreciate this guys, but White elephant is a type of gift excange, not a request for an actual elephant." Yashee supressed a giggle, pulling them into a hug once Raz'ul transformed back.


	28. Day 28: Oranges

"Raz'ul whats with the oranges, i thought you were going out get stuff for candy."

"I did. Im making candy oranges."

"But oranges are a fruit." Randy hopped up on the stool to better see the counter.

"Yes, they are. But you can candy them, and since oranges are in season this time of year its good to enjoy them while they are fresh." He rolls a peeled orange over to Randy.

"Here eat that while you watch, keep your hands off the others."

Randy nodded in understanding slowly eating his orange as he watched Raz'ul start slicing the oranges. "Why dont you just break them like this?" Randy demenstrated pulling his orange appart.

"Then they dont turn out properly." Raz'ul continued slicing them fairly thin, laying them in a pot of water as he cut them.

Randy wandered off bored of watching Razul cut fruit.  
He was sitting in the living room when he heard a shout come from the kitchen, jumping up he ran to check on his buddy who was shaking out his hand. "Raz? You okay?"

"Im good, the candy fought back, just a bit to hot to handle."

"They are oranges why are they hot?"

"Because thats how you turn them into candy. You have to boil them, then cool them off. They get like a crystalized layer to them, making them a healthy candy."

"No sugar? Thats no fun."

"Maybe not, but we can dip them in chocolate." Raz'ul swears he never saw Randy light up that bright before.


	29. Day 29: Ugly Sweater

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Everyone seemed to be talking about Winter and Holly today, so it influenced my writing just a tad xD.

"I bet mine is uglier." Holly called from around the corner. She knew her brother was standing in the room waiting for her.

"No way mine defintiely is." Winter called back, looking down at his sweater. A raindeer complete with a blinking red nose decorated the front of his sweater, the back was a collage of verying toys they made in their workshop together over the past year.

"Nope, I'm defintiely going to win." Holly stepped around the corner, dressed up as a christmas tree, complete with flashing lights on her sweater, questionably shaped ordiments and a skirt covered in gift wrapping bows.

"Well, it certainly is ugly. But I think mine is worse." He declares proudly, doing a spin to show Holly the back of his shirt.

"Maybe, but you didnt see the back of mine." She turned around, her back adorn with a mirror dressed as an elf. Winter got a laugh from that.

"Good one sis. How about we vote it a tie this year?"

"We vote it a tie every year."

"Thats because we are both so good."

"Just admit you don't want me to win." Holly gave him a smile, and a hug. "Come on. The party will start soon without us if we don't go."


	30. Day 30: Candy Cane

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning for sad moments, a lot of crying, and mentions of poisoning.
> 
> \----
> 
> Wtf me this was suppose to be happy.

No one saw this man eat a candy cane. All seaons long Symbol avoided them. He denied ever being allergic to them. He even denied being acused of not liking them.  
Yet he never ate one around anyone else.  
Mitch finally found out why.

He had peppermint hot chocolate before bed. Finishing off the last bit of the candy cane he had used to stir the liquid as he headed to the vedroom. Symbol had already put on his pjs, and was waiting for him to come snuggle.

"Good night Symbol." He planted a kiss on his boyfriends cheek, not getting a chance to pull away before Symbol met his lips.

He wasnt suprised by the sudden kiss, it was normal for Symbol to give him more affection then he offered, never wanting to overstep boundarys. This kiss was something more though, a sense of desperation as Symbols hands found their way into his hair. Pulling him closer, but still being gentle.  
Mitchs hands slid to Symbols face, shocked when his thumbs met tear tracks down his face.

Symbol pulled away slight, resting their forheads together. "I'm sorry. So sorry Mitch."

"Why are you sorry? Its okay." Drying away his tears he spoke softly, their breath mingling. As Symbol collapsed further against him.

"Peppermint, its why I avoid it. It-" He sniffles, stealing another kiss from Mitch. "It reminds me of them, of Peter. I-"

"Hey its okay." Mitch wiped away his tears, pulling him closer to his chest. "Its okay Symbol. Go ahead and cry. Im sorry, I didn't know. I wouldn't have eaten that candycane if i knew it was going to cause you distress."

Symbol cried into Mitch's shirt for a while, the two of them sat there holding onto eachother until he cried himself out. Grabbing the glass of water off the bedside table he put it in Symbols hands. "Drink, slowly."

He slowly drank the glass of water, handing the empty cup back to Mitch. "Feel better? Do you want to talk about Peter?"

"Peter is-was an old friend of mine. A love I never got to fulfill. Met them at a show, the sweetest person in an industry full of stuck up people. And it wasn't just because of the candycanes they were constantly eating.

"I was just getting to know them, working up to ask them out. But someone spiked their drink at a party, we never did find out who did it. Being a a big party makes it impossible to keep track of who could have slipped poision in a drink. Part of me still wonders if that drink was ment for me. It probably was. I got my poor friend killed, just because I was kind enough to hand over the white russian I was handed. Since I was already plastered and didn't need to make more of a fool of myself."

He stopped to wipe the tears from his face. "I never enjoyed peppermint after that day. It always reminds me of them."


	31. Day 31: First Footing

Raz'ul didnt understand everyone's talk about what they were bringing for their first footing into someone elses abode. He didn't understand why the new year suddently ment more home based gifts to pass around.

"Raz'ul, whats with the candle? You know anyone past your height who walks in might knock that over. Right?" Yashee asked curiously, a dufflebag hanging from her arm by the rope, apparently she was getting ready to head to Tabithas based off her clothes.

"Its to keep negative energies outside. The white candle represents purity, only allowing good spirits in our dorm. Reed taught me to do it." He explains gently shifting the candle so newcomers wouldn't hit it.

"So it's like the opposite of a first footing?"

"What is that? I keep hearing you and Randy talk about it but no one explains."

Putting the bag down on the table next to the candle, Yashee begins the prossess of explaining to Raz'ul the benifits of a good first footing and how its a blessing to be shared.

"Oh, so yeah it's sort if the opposite of that." Razul declares after a few moments of confused faces. "People have to try hard to bring positive energy, but negative energy just clings to us easily. So instead of having the guests focus really hard on only bringing in good vibes, the candle just helps stop the bad ones from ever entering."


	32. Day 32: New Years Kiss

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lets start 20bi-teen with some angst. Not really sorry, but I keep projecting myself on Raz'ul

Everyone seemed to have someone to kiss at the new years celebration.

Yashee has Tabitha.

Symbol has Mitch.

Alola has her wife.

Gareth has Zil, even though some of the schools is still weirded out by that.

Randy even has an upperclassmate he paired up with for the night.

Not Raz'ul though.

He wandered off alone to wait for everyone else to bring in the new years with kisses, but all he could think of as he made his way to the roof was home.

The new year hadn't mattered while he was living with Reed, at least not to the extent that communitys cared about it. But he was thinking if home. Of how his brothers would aways squish him in the middle of a big group hug, starting his year with comfort and warmth. A safe place thats familiar and strong, not the lips of a stranger pressed against his just for a show for everyone else.

Sitting on the roof, not caring about the cold he looks out to the north. Pretending his brothers arms were around him once more, back when they still cared. Back before Daz'ul pulled them away by forcing them to focus on their princely duties instead of helping their little brother navigate the world that was a hundred times bigger then he ever imagined.

Maybe watching the sky looking for the aurora-that he would never see this far south-would be nearly as good as a new years kiss. He would let it be better and pretend he was safe and warm instead. It had to be better then kissing strangers in a loud crowded room.

**Author's Note:**

> This was only Day one. Just sort of dipping my toes in the water to see how this goes. Lets see if I stay committed through all 31 days.


End file.
